Spree were candies I was never particularly drawn to. I witnessed them being enjoyed by many of my friends and family, but there was something about them that never called to me. I think a big reason was the fact that I am such a big fan of Starburst, that I couldn’t imagine fitting another chewy fruity candy into my regular rotation. Especially one that I didn’t think would compete on the same level.

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I decided to give them a try. It was all my roommate’s doing, as she had bought a bunch and was munching away on them in the living room. My “candy that I haven’t tried yet” radar went off and I immediately went to check out her sugar-fest. The next day I made sure to pick some up at the store for adequate Candy Enthusiast tastings.

These are about the size of nickels and double the thickness. They come in grape, cherry, apple, orange and lemon, white are pretty run of the mill in terms of fruit flavored candy offerings. The texture of these is fun, as it takes a bit of pressure to get the shell to crack. I prefer to shove them back to my molars for the job. Once broken, there’s a very nice flavor release and the center gives a nice chew. I find that it takes a good 10-25 chomps before everything dissolves. It’s very satisfying to eat.

Grape: Nothing about this tasted like grape to me. It really just tastes sour.

Apple: I do get apple notes here: fruity, juicy and a little spice to them as if cinnamon was added. The sour works well with it too, making it more “true to life”.

Cherry: Very berry like, not much of a cherry flavor, more of a generic “red”. The tartness is more pronounced in this and it gaves me a little throat burn.

Orange: This is going to sound strange, but this tasted of the orange Fruit Loop. Just add some tartness to it and you got this flavor to a T.

Lemon: It took a couple of chews before I got the flavor to come out. It’s not as zesty and sour as I hoped, but it does have a light lemony taste to it. I want more of it.

I found these pleasant and I prefer the texture of these to the flavors, which is regrettable since you mainly want to eat candy for how it tastes. Texture is only part of the equation, and sadly it isn’t enough for me to pick these up in the future. If only they tasted as sumptuous as they look!

Yes, I am aware that these are way past their original release date of last fall. I saw them at one of my local candy haunts and thought I’d swipe them up before they disappeared or end up inedible. So here you are .The code on the back says 727FRCLVO*, so they’re really not past their prime.

The package is an obnoxious bright pink with, I’m guessing, a relative of Red standing behind a large raspberry made of M&Ms pieces (logo and all) with a very sassy look on his face. With an expression like that, I’d expect it to be reserved for Green!

The actual M&Ms are on the larger side, about the same as I remember the old Crispy M&Ms being. They share the same bright pink color as the packaging with the white “M” stamped onto them. There’s no aroma so it’s hard to gage what the flavor will be like.

As for the taste, well, it’s…odd. I admit they do taste like raspberry, but not the type of raspberry you’d want to be eating. It’s terribly artificial with strong floral notes that really overpower any actual “berry” flavor present. It’s such a loud flavor and it reminds me of old Bath and Body works perfume: powerfully smelly and so far removed from the natural essence that it’s hard to identify it anymore. Thankfully you do taste the chocolate. It provides a brief respite from the “razzberry” taste and delivers a solid chocolate flavor and a good sweetness.

After tasting a few of these I feel like I had perfume sprayed on my tongue.

I’m glad that these were a limited edition release that didn’t last too long. The concept of the raspberry flavor is good, but the execution of the flavors really don’t work for me. They’re best to be avoided.

Lifesavers are one of those candies that have always been in my life. I vividly remember enjoying them often in my childhood: I enjoyed each flavor and happily took the rejected green ones my friends didn’t like. As an adult, I don’t eat them as frequently, but I do pick them up when the craving strikes. Sometimes I have a hankering for the 5 Flavor roll (now sadly changed from the original) or the Butter Rum, but most often I find myself reaching for the Tropical flavored mix.

I think I keep reaching for the Tropical flavors more often simply because the flavors seem more fun to me. Most any hard candy offers you cherry, green apple, orange, etc. and it simply gets too boring after a bit. Plus some of my favorite flavors, such as pineapple, are usually found in these exotic mixes. So I’m always game for a roll of Lifesavers Tropicals when the mood strikes.

Fruit Punch: Fire engine red colored and a bright and perfectly punchy in flavor! I get all the notes of oranges, berries, banana in there. Think Hawaiian punch but more authentic.

Pina Colada: Clear and whitish in color. It has great zesty pineapple notes and comes across as very juicy. The coconut shows up as a mild sweetness that tastes a little milky that really rounds the flavor out. The best of the bunch.

Mango Melon: This one has a milky creamsicle appearance which is neat and unique. The flavor is much more melon than mango, thankfully. It’s mildly sweet with light juicy undertones. More like honeydew than cantaloupe or watermelon with some nice floral notes.

Tangerine: Light orange in color. The flavor is nice and orangy with that extra zestiness characteristic of tangerines. Not as “juicy” as I was hoping but very tasty.

Banana: (yellow) This one also has a milky creamy appearance. The flavor is banana, with it’s familiar sweet starchy flavor. This somehow tastes like a “greener” banana as opposed to an overly ripe one, since there’s a small and subtle tartness to it which delivers an authentic edge.

What more can I say? Even the flavors I didn’t prefer so much ended up being better than I expected (and remembered). These make a perfect hot day treat and I like how I can easily just toss a roll into my purse and know they’ll be good still later on when the sweet tooth comes calling. That’s what I call a Lifesaver!

The new Limited Edition Junior Fruit Cremes are new twist on the classic Junior Mints, which are the classic panned chocolates with a creamy mint fondant center. With this new variant has a fruit flavored fondant center with a white mockolate coating. Sounds tasty already, eh? The brightly colored box is very playful and I find the green background very eye-catching. As with all my candy discoveries, I peek at the ingredients list which I immediately find disappointing since trans fats are the second thing listed. Ah well, it’s not like candy is supposed to be good for you.

The pieces look like Junior Mints: little rounded plops, similar to smooth river stones. They have that bit of puckering on the bottom, which is their candy belly button. The Fruit Cremes come in four colors: orange, purple, dark pink and light pink with no indication of the flavors. They don’t look pretty at all: they have a little gloss to them but they still look flat and sort of gray. The colors are muted and aren’t very bright and inviting. There’s also no aroma to them at all.

Purple: Tastes like the purple Sweet Tart: a berry flavor with hints of grape in it. *Very* sweet.

Dark Pink: This just tastes sweet, I get no flavor at all. This really makes my throat burn.

Light Pink: Hard to say what this tastes like since this is also obnoxiously sweet. There’s a light berry flavor, maybe? If I *had* to choose, I’d say it’s a hint of strawberry.

The texture of these is odd. They are very cool and smooth in the mouth, with a creamy feeling that isn’t greasy. The shell is soft and immediately opens to the creamy interior, which is smooth and brightly flavored.

I couldn’t finish the recommended serving of these since I they were burning out my esophagus with the sugar hit. I am not kidding, my throat just *burns* for all the sugar in this. I was coughing for a good 20 minutes after eating seven of these and even a glass of water didn’t help. Mind you, this has never happened to me before because I have a pretty high sugar threshold. I liked the taste from what I got out of the two that did have flavor, but overall they’re disappointing. I don’t want candy that I can’t taste half of and have to chase with three glasses of water. I’ll pass.

I loved these as a kid. They were one of the most colorful offerings in the bins at the grocery store my Mom would shop at, so naturally I was attracted to them right away. I’d chose them as my treat on occasions when I wanted something hefty and chewy that delivered a good flavor punch. I also would reach for these when I wanted chocolate but wasn’t allowed it. Something about these just satisfied the craving so I didn’t end up making myself crazy.

The Royals, or Milk Maids as they’re called in some areas, are really just little logs of sweet caramel with a flavored creme filling. Colorfully coded by type, you can easily tell at the store which flavors the masses prefer. When I bought mine the bin was woefully lacking in the blue Vanilla variety. Oddly enough, you can also guess as to the manufacturer’s favorite (or least favorite, I should say) because when I found my grab bag of these, not a single Maple flavored one was in the mix. I found that mildly annoying.

Chocolate (brown): I mainly taste the caramel in this one, it’s sweet with a few milky notes thrown in. The chocolate creme center only delivers a mild cocoa flavor and left me craving a bigger chocolate hit. Overall it reminds me a little of a tootsie roll with a softer texture.

Raspberry (dark pink): The rasberry flavor is very light and floral with a juicy kick to it. It’s not as strong as I hoped but it does work nicely with the caramel coating.

Vanilla (blue): The vanilla filling gives a great robust flavor and an extra milky punch to the whole caramel. It’s really lovely.

Orange (orange): This one is really cool because the combination of the sweet milky notes of the caramel with the orange center makes it taste of a creamsicle.

Butter Rum (yellow): The strong butter flavor tastes artificial to me. However, the slight “burning” flavor of the rum goes seamlessly with the caramel which I find really nice.

Maple (red): The one I was looking forward to the most! The maple flavor is detectable, but it’s more of a fake pancake syrup flavor as opposed to the real thing. It adds a nice woodsy and brown sugar flavor which really compliments the caramel.

I can see why I haven’t really visited these since my childhood. The flavors are mediocre and when you’re a kid eager to get a sugar hit, theses deliver enough flavor to satisfy the taste buds too. I find as an adult, I crave something more sophisticated than what these have to offer. I think my Mom summed it up perfectly when she saw my bag of Royals in my shopping bag: “Oh, I love those, but I haven’t had them in years!”. Some candies are best in memory.